A Beautiful Monday

Today is a gorgeous. lovely spring day here. The temperatures are finally warm, yet cool and it feels wonderful after the long winter.
All I have to show from my garden for mid April is this tiny sprig of forsythia. My daffodils are still not open!
No sewing here today, enjoying the sunshine!

Kelly

Twirl and Mail

You really can teach an old dog new tricks! At our retreat in February one of the members, Myrna taught me how to "twirl" the centers of nine patches. I thought this was a very involved process and I couldn't be bothered. So when she was doing it at the retreat with her patchwork I asked her to show me how to do it.

Oh my goodness it is so simple and takes like 2 seconds! For those of you like me that don't know, all you do is take out the 2 little stitches in the middle and they just fall into place. Press and admire! The best part is they lay super flat, no hump in the middle.

Holy Moly batman, 2 pieces of quilt mail today!

My friend Barb of Fun with Barb sent me this very cool pattern. She made this quilt a while ago and I have always admired it. I am so happy she made it into a pattern. This is a pattern you can personalize to yourself so head over to her blog if you are interested in purchasing it. She is also working on another pattern that is a beautiful applique in red and green.

The name of her pattern company is Sweet Sparrow Designs and she loves birds, hence the artwork on the back of the envelope!

This also came in the mail. Similar to the Farmer's Wife blocks but much more simple and perfect for individual small quilts and gift giving.

Kelly

Baby Blues

I have started on the quilts for the twins. I looked and looked and looked for a background print and ended up with the dots. I think it was a good choice. I have a lot more blues to cut.

Kelly

Quilt Show Countdown

My guild, Penn Oaks Quilt Guild is having a QUILT SHOW in a few weeks. One of the ways we raise money is through our Acorn Shoppe where we sell miscellaneous sewing things, think of it like a thrift shop of sorts. Members are also encouraged to sell things giving a percentage of the sales back to the guild. It's a win-win.

Everything is usually a used pattern or book and just things you are looking to get rid of, a good time to clean out the sewing room!

These two pouches I am donating, they are 6 1/2"x 9". They will be in the Acorn Shoppe if you are interested.

This one is also 6 1/2" x 9" and will be in a raffle basket.
I hope if you are local you can make it to the show. For a small guild we do a great job! You can get more information HERE.

Kelly

Bound

Sprig

I decided to bind the quilt and am now glad I did! It is subtle and gives it just the right amount of definition.

I used that method of binding where you sew the top and bottom on first, stitch them to the back and then do the sides. I have never done it before and thought it would look better than it does. I didn't want to waste any of the vintage fabric. To me it looks crooked and a little lumpy. We'll call it "charming".

This is the back and the only stitching you can see is my embroidery, I hid the applique stitches well. I had a stop and start and did not like the way the knots looked so I stitched circles over the ends. I like it!

It does add a touch of whimsy!

Have you seen this quilt? I made it last summer and it was used to advertise our quilt show. It has disappeared I am hoping someone found it and will return it. Contact me by email kellymx@aol.com.  Great news the quilt has been found!

My day was brightened considerably when I opened the mailbox to some mail from my granddaughter. I hope we always get old fashioned mail, it made my day!

Kelly

Sprig

Sprig

Making the doll quilt I made last week, made me think of making some more pieces that are small. It was fun, not time consuming and gave me almost instant gratification!

I am easily distracted when it comes to sewing. I was looking for one thing and stumbled on the leaves that were given to me last fall. They are all almost the same size and are cut from a variety of fabrics, some pretty and some not so pretty.

So now I dug out the rest of my vintage fabrics and the wheels started to turn.

It can get overwhelming and I have 2 different "ages" of fabric. Vintage which I call the fabrics of the 30's through the 60's and antique which are more dark colors, probably late 1800's through the early 1900's..... think reproductions.

I bought this book back in 1995! I think it is proof, good design is good design no matter how old it is. Janet gives you some easy tips to either copy her design or make your own. She tells you to start with a bird because it is easy, of course I did not listen.

You will never find me making a cat quilt and you will most likely never find me using these colors! Yet it appeals to me. Simple, fun and something you can make your very own.

I had a piece of an old quilt that was leftover from some pillows I made. I bought it as a piece of an already cut up quilt top. The fabric was so soft and the quilting was beautiful. I liked honoring her work with mine on top.

I made a mug rug using this design (in my header on the right) and a postcard. So there must be something about the way this looks that appeals to me. It happens to be doll quilt size but the proportions of the leaves are not in keeping with doll quilts.

What I liked about making this quilt.....
Everything except the floss is vintage
I didn't feel the need to make my embroidery perfect (it's not!)
I loved hand appliqueing the leaves without thinking about turning it on the line, they are all different
I love all the pretty pinks, even the ones that are a little dingy
I was hesitant about the yo yo and the rectangles but am glad I put them in
Just touching the soft white quilt made me happy and was nice to sew through
I thought about the woman who quilted those tiny stitches, would she be horrified?
I started this and finished it in 1 day

So now I am deciding if I will put a binding on.....it feels kind of nice without it but looks a little raggedy. It will be a vintage fabric so that may be a deciding factor.
I will be making more of these. Watch for a bird quilt!

Kelly

Sewing Day

I finally got all my nine patches from the swap that Barb, from Fun With Barb held last Fall. It was such a fun swap and I got a great variety of fabrics in this quilt. I did make some more on my own as I wanted it a little bigger, this one will go on the couch for naps.

While this was not the original pattern I chose, I sewed them all  wrong at the Getaway in February and decided I was not going to unsew them. I really do dislike sewing long rows together, it is pretty boring.

On my design wall I have another group of swap blocks also a swap that Barb organizd. This is a randomly pieced quilt so it is taking a bit longer than I thought.

When I haven't sewn in a while, I want to make everything that is floating around in my head. Not that it is practical but things get pulled out, willy nilly. These blue fabrics are going into the quilts for the twins now that we know they are boys. It's pretty bad when you are stacking up your boxes of scraps. A cleaning is in order!

I came upon this vintage Economy Patch quilt that I absolutely loved. Sorry for the bad pictures, it is very bright here today.

It is damaged and needs repair. There is one fabric in particular that has disintegrated. Part of me feels the needs to rescue it.......

but as I look closer at it much of it is coming apart. It was hand pieced and hand quilted with no batting and no binding.

The fabrics are very vibrant and have wonderful designs. It does need a bath too.
So would you cut it apart and use the fabrics or keep it whole and try to repair it? Does anyone know if I wash it now, would I be sorry?

Kelly